Shoestring accessory

ABSTRACT

THE ACCESSORY CONSISTS BRIEFLY OF A SHOESTRING HAVING AN END PROTRUDING THROUGH AN EYELET OF THE SHOE, A RESILIENTLY SPHERICAL MEMBER CONNECTED TO THE END OF THE SHOESTRING, AND A BASE MEMBER FORMED WITH A GENERALLY SPHERICAL CHAMBER HAVING AN OPENING TO THE SURFACE THEREOF FOR RECEIPT OF THE SPHERICAL MEMBER IN A &#34;POP&#34; FIT. THE ACCESSORY IN THE FORM OF A DECORATIVE NOVELTY IS ATTACHED TO THE BASE.

J. D. WILSON AsHoEs'rRING` AccEssoaY Feb. 2,` V1971 Filed Aug. 22. 1969 INVENTOR.

Jean D. Wilso Attorneys 3,559,251 SHOESTRING ACCESSORY v Jean D..Wilson, 1610 Femside Blvd.,

v Alameda, Calif. 94501 Filed Aug. 22, 1969, Ser. No. 852,264 Int. Cl. A43c 9/ 02 U.S. Cl. 24-143 S'Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The accessory consists brieilyof a Shoestring having an end protruding through an eyelet of the shoe, a resiliently spherical member connected to the end of the Shoestring, and a base member .formed with a generally spherical chamber having an opening to the surface thereof for receipt of the spherical member in a pop lit. The accessory in the form of a decorative novelty is attached 'to the base.

BACKGRoUND F THE INVENTION This invention pertains to the decorative arts as applied to the shoestrings of shoes and in particular shoes for children and adolescents.

Heretofore there have been no couplings for the ends of the shoestrings which would t through the eyelets of the shoe and yet form an easily joined and released coupling. The prior art shows decorative devices for shoestrings but these are devices which clamp on to the shoe- String and do not yform an integral part of the Shoestring.

SUMMARY The accessory of the present invention forms an integral part of the shoelace. If the decorative attachment should become worn, the Shoestring can still be used to lace and tie the shoe.

An object therefore of the present invention is to provide an accessory for a Shoestring which will serve to lace Patented Feb. 2 1971 ice FIG. 5 is a plan view of the form of the invention and tie the shoe in the regular manner and yet provide an interesting and decorative air to the Shoestring and the shoe.

Another object is to provide a Shoestring with a coupling in which the decorative objects can be easily and quickly attached and removed by persons of all but the tenderest of age.

`A further object is to provide a coupling which can be used for the attachment of many different types and forms of decorations `for the Shoestring.

A still further object is to provide a Shoestring attachment which can be purchased apart from the shoe and yet can be used with a wide variety of shoes but is particularly adaptable to the sneaker type of shoe.

Still another object is to provide a Shoestring attachment which is inexpensive to manufacture yet is durable and long lasting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a device constructed in accordance with the present invention attached to a shoe shown in phantom line.

FIG. 2. is a partial cross sectional view taken generally along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1 with the parts in exploded form for purposes of illustration.

l FIG. 3 is a plan view of an alternative form of the invention ailixed to a shoe which is shown in phantom line.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view of the species of the invention shown in FIG. 3 but with a diiIerent decorative ornament. The Shoestring and ornament are shown in exploded form as they would appear before coupling.

phantom and an adornment appropriate to this type of shoe.

' DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention consists brielly of a Shoestring 1 having an end 2 and an end 3 protruding through eyelets 4 and 5, respectively; resiliently compressible spherical members 7 and 8 connected to the ends of the shoestrings; and base members 9 and 10 formed with generally spherical chambers 12 and 13 having openings 14 and 15 to the surface thereof for receipt of the spherical members in a pop lit.

` Although only one end of the Shoestring need be fitted with the above described coupling, it is preferable to have both ends fitted with the spherical couplings. The spherical members are preferably -made from plastic with a smooth outer surface such as polyethylene and should be bonded directly to the ends of the shoestrings so they can serve the purpose of binding the ends to prevent fraying. For this purpose, a neck portion as shown at 17 and 18 is integrally formed with the spherical portion which extends a sufficient distance to prevent inadvertent separation from the Shoestring.

The base member may be formed from various plastic materials or of the same material as the spherical members. The chamber portion is the most critical portion and must have a neck opening slightly smaller than the diameter of the spherical so that the sphere may be squeezedthrough and will then expand into the larger spherical interior portion. The action of the spherical Imember passing through the neck opening proceeds with a pop and has given rise to the so-called pop beads used in womens costume necklaces or childrens plastic toys.

The base member is also formed with an area 20 and 21 to which is attached an ornament 22 and 23 respectively. The ornament may be any substance which has an ornamental etfect such as colored textile materials in the Shape of cotton balls, ilowers, such as pom poms or the like.

The invention, in its form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is snapped on after the shoelace has been threaded through the eyelets. The ornaments are then free to dangle loosely from the ends of the Shoestring as Shown in FIG. 1. The ornaments may be removed easily when worn out and the Shoestring used in the usual manner. Primarily, however, itis intended that different colored ornaments would be snapped onto the shoestrings with changes of costume.

Another form of the invention is shown in FIG. 5. The onlyvdifference is in the form of the adornment. This is a childs shoe 6', having a Shoestring 1 with eyelets such as 4' and 5. The coupling, not shown in detail, is the same as that shown in FIG. 2. Here the ornament is a teddy bear head which is only illustrative of many different ornaments which -would be enjoyed by children and is here given the numbers 26' and 27 Still another form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this form of the invention the Shoestring 1" is used with a sneaker 6" like the sneaker 6 shown in FIG. 1. The difference is that the Shoestring is shorter and is just suflcient to clear the last eyelets. The base 9" is sufticiently wide to bridge the distance between the two top eyelets. The top surface of the bases may be smooth and inscriptions such as the name of the wearer can be engraved therein if the base is metal or other words of signilcance to teenagers could be molded into the base if it were plastic. The underside of the base would be formed with spherical chambers as above described and as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 shows a further form of the invention which iS similar to the type shown in FIG. 3 except with a different type of ornamentation. The shoestring 1" is formed with ends 2' and 3 to which are attached the spherical members 7"' and 8"' which pop into chamber 12' and 13" formed in a base 9". An ornamentation in the form of a pom pom 26 is attached to the base by any suitable means.

The base shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 serves the purpose of a buckle and instead of tying the string in a knot as in FIGS. 1 and 5, the base serves to hold the strings tightly so the shoe will remain on the foot of the wearer.

I claim:

1. A Shoestring accessory comprising:

(a) a Shoestring having an end protruding through an eyelet;

(b) a resiliently compressible spherical member connected to the end of said Shoestring; and

(c) a base member formed with a generally spherical chamber having an opening to the surface thereof for receipt of said spherical member in a pop fit.

2. An accessory as defined in claim 1 including:

, (a) a second spherical member as described in paragraph (a) of claim 1 on the other end of said shoestring; and

(b) said base member having a second opening as de` lined in paragraph (c) spaced from said rst opening.

3. An accessory, as dened in claim 1 including:

(a) a second spherical lmember as described in paragraph (a) of claim 1 on the other end of said string; and

A (b) a second base member as described in paragraph (c) of claim 1.

4. An accessory as dened in claim 3 including:

(a) an adornment connected to each of said bases.

S. An accessory as dened in claim 1 including:

(a) an artistic adornment on a face of said base.

lReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,586,473 5/1926 Rose 24-143l `2,440,170 4/ 1948 Duefrene 24-208AUX 2,961,727 11/1960 Coifey 24-143l DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner 

